I said no such thing, but as usual, you [mac] like to make up things to suit your agenda. Being ridiculed by you when you have no idea* about the topic or my posts only comforts me. It makes me smile ...

and is THE reason I wrote him and his clones off years ago.

* He HAS to know; it's right there on his screen, just as it is for the cool dood in the White House with the teleprompters. They just don't CARE.

The story, simply, was that there were 300 spills and they were not reported, as the pipeline company is legally required to do. The rest is nonsense--including the nonsense about more media coverage being inadequate because it didn't report the amounts of the spill. There's no evidence that Techno actually reads mainstream media, or cares that the pipeline company broke the law--300 times.

Of course the context for this is whether or not pipelines are benign, as a very large new one is being proposed. It is pretty simple. We can't rely on this particular pipeline company to obey the law.

EMERYVILLE, Calif. - Federal investigators on Monday called for a dramatic overhaul of oil refinery regulation nationwide and in California, saying a massive fire at Chevron Corp.'s Richmond refinery last year is evidence that the current system does not force the state's 15 refineries to operate as safely as possible.

"We are here because we have a refinery safety problem in the United States,'' the chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board, Rafael Moure-Eraso, said in introducing his agency's draft report on a blaze that sent clouds of smoke through the region in August 2012, prompting more than 15,000 people to go to hospitals complaining of breathing problems.

Speaking at a news conference, he said his agency logged 125 refinery accidents last year, a record that demonstrates the need for "sweeping change.''

The board's report concluded that while California had made progress since the Chevron fire in improving oversight of the oil refinery industry, much more needs to be done locally and nationally. Moure-Eraso applauded the state's response as a first step in changing policy, saying it can serve as a model for reform.

The board's first report, issued in April, blamed San Ramon, Calif.-based Chevron for allowing unchecked sulfur-related corrosion at its refinery, despite a string of warnings about the danger that higher sulfur crude could pose to the part of the crude processing unit that ultimately failed. The pipe that burst - which had lost 90 percent of its wall thickness - had been left in place for years despite internal recommendations to replace it, investigators said.

Series of accidents

The report released Monday outlines a path forward for the industry, noting there has been virtually no progress in improving safety despite a string of deadly accidents, including the 2005 fire at the Texas City refinery then owned by BP that killed 15 workers.

The board lauded California's plan to hire 15 more workplace inspectors following the Richmond fire but said bringing in more staff and issuing more citations would not be enough. The regulatory approach across the U.S. is too static, reactive and focused on after-the-fact fines, when it should seek to drive down accidents, investigators said.

"The regulatory system both in the U.S. and California for petroleum does not effectively prevent major accidents,'' said Don Holmstrom, head of the board's Western regional office. He said the U.S. lags behind the rest of the world.

The board touted as an alternative the "safety case" regulatory system used in England, Norway and Australia, a prevention-based model that holds the industry accountable for demonstrating it is driving down the risk of disasters to the lowest level possible.

Holmstrom said that process could have prevented the accident last year because Chevron would have had to identify all hazards and deal with them by replacing pipe at-risk of corrosion.

Under the system, governments hire highly qualified, well-compensated experts to assure the industry is reducing risks. But making such a system work in the U.S. would require better pay and training for regulators, so they could be at least competitive with the refineries they oversee, the board's report found.

Taking action

Chevron said in a statement that it would work with the Chemical Safety board, local governments, industry groups and others "to implement appropriate measures that enhance safety at our Richmond facility. While we await the release of the board's final report, we are already taking a series of actions in response to the August 2012 incident."

The statement also that over the past 16 months, Chevron has worked to address issues identified by it, the safety board and state regulators, noting: "We worked more than 1.9 million hours over 259 days to repair and improve the crude unit."

A 'step forward'

In July, a state task force appointed by California governor's to review refinery safety regulatory efforts issued a report calling for reforms, including adopting the "safety case" approach.

The Chemical Safety Board on Monday hailed that report as "an important step forward in improving petroleum refinery safety and environmental performance both in California and nationally."

Mike Wilson, chief scientist with the state's Department of Industrial Relations, read a statement Monday welcoming the safety board's recommendations as a "very useful foundation'' for the reforms being considered in California.

Those of you with memories will recall that an apologist for the oil industry said that the only reason that new refineries haven't been built in the United States, including in Richmond, was unreasonable opposition by NIMBY environmentalists. The same apologists belittled the concerns of the so-called NIMBIES over increased corrosion from high sulfur feed stock in Richmond. Of course, that apologist had been busy making money in developing new sources, so perhaps hadn't been paying attention to the overlooked safety issues at refineries. Perhaps.

RICHMOND -- Chevron Corp. failed to maintain equipment at a California refinery and has not responded adequately to multiple airborne chemical releases, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday.

The EPA filed a formal notice against Chevron finding 62 violations of federal environmental law after an investigation spurred by the Aug. 6, 2012 fire.

Regulators determined the blaze was caused by the failure of a corroded, 1970s-era pipe that released a massive gas cloud and sent thousands of people to hospitals seeking medical attention.

The EPA called Chevron's risk management at the Richmond facility a "pervasive failure" and warned it could pursue criminal charges or fines if the company fails to address the violations.

Chevron spokeswoman Melissa Ritchie said the company is working with EPA and other agencies to remedy issues identified in investigations by the government and the company.

"In Richmond, a full, comprehensive inspection of the refinery is ongoing," Ritchie said. "To date, we have inspected thousands of individual piping components and are replacing them as necessary based on the results of these inspections."

Wasn't it an oil company apologist who likened those concerns about Chevron's many violations in Richmond to a bank robber? I guess that the oil companies know larcency.

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